Was there Cement in Pre-Columbian America?

Some readers of the Book of Mormon claimed that sophisticated cement technology was unknown to Pre-Columbian America during the time of the Book of Mormon. New discoveries have altered this perspective. Early forms of cement began as a whitewash in the ninth century BC in southern Mesoamerica but developed into more sophisticated forms of structural cement during the Late-Pre-Classic period (300 BC – AD 250). Notably, these developments led to an expansion of cement building activity into northern Mesoamerica around 100 BC at roughly the same time as that mentioned in the Book of Mormon. Remarkable examples of the high structural quality of cement buildings can be seen at the site of Teotihuacan north of Mexico City where some structures even exceed modern building code requirement